Are you drawn to test yourself—what’s my attachment style? What’s my personality type? What’s my enneagram number? What’s my astrological sign? What about testing measures like your mood, your memory, your intelligence, your grip strength, your push-up count?
I can sometimes be found taking online surveys and consulting books on handwriting analysis and palm reading. It’s universal, I think, this desire to peg ourselves on the board—where do I stand? How do I compare?
Self-knowledge is a good thing, if we don’t buy into the labels or let them define and limit us. We are so much more than a number on a scale. And it’s important to remember that no matter our label, our brains are malleable, especially, as research shows, if we practice yoga and meditation. We are literally growing grey matter, lengthening telomeres, shrinking that over-active, hyper-aroused amygdala.
That’s just one reason why I practice—the benefits for my mind (literally, my brain) and body. The main reason is that no matter what my online survey results show, my practice connects me to who I truly am—my true nature, my wholeness, my heart.
Over the course of my career, I’ve written books and articles and made audio visual tools. My mission has been to share the ancient yet accessible yoga practices that have helped me stay intimately connected to my own true nature and find balance and ease in navigating through life. These yoga skills support what psychologists call “self-regulation” and “self-efficacy.”
Making a Difference
At the recent New Jersey Integrated Mental Health Conference, I shared these practices with therapists and heard stories that touched my heart from folks who had attended previous workshops and trainings with me. They told me how these yoga-based
tools had enhanced both their personal wellbeing and what they offer to their clients and students. Larry Thompson, the founding director of the conference, and the founder of innovative and ever-expanding Integrated Care Concepts took a workshop with me at the Psychotherapy Networker Symposium several years ago that inspired him to gather practitioners from modalities beyond clinical mental health.
Larry’s wife Judy Thompson studied LifeForce Yoga with me at Kripalu years ago and opened Sakala School of Integrated Teaching to train yoga teachers in ways that support mental wellbeing. On the day after the conference ended, Larry wrote to say:
Judy and I were sitting watching our middle son play soccer and reflecting on “Amy actually presented at our conference, the person that sanctioned us into the integrated world and ignited a passion in us…” Our practice model, Judy’s Sakala School, this conference, our work in schools, our work with community partners… you are there. Thich Nhat Hahn, “How I touch my children is how I touch my great grandchildren who I will never know…” We have been touched, and that love as your legacy continues to show up in the places it is needed…
As someone who has offered these practices for over twenty years, there’s nothing more heart-nourishing than to know that the way in which I have made these ancient healing practices accessible is touching those I will never see.
Want to learn more about Yoga For Your Mood? Click here for the next step. Relief is available and you can stay steady through whatever comes your way.
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